The European Commission never asked Greece to raise value added tax, in fact it was a Greek proposal, said an EC official close to the negotiations between Athens and lenders’ representatives in Brussels. According to a report from Brussels aired on STAR television, the Brussels Group – the representatives of the EC, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – never proposed a change in VAT and they never even mentioned VAT in negotiations over the Greek fiscal targets. The reporter cites an EC official close to President Jean-Claude Juncker and familiar with the talks between the two sides. The officials said that, “all the VAT rates, even the decision to find revenues from VAT was solely a Greek government decision.” Thereby, the report says, the alleged proposal of 23 percent VAT by lenders doesn’t exist. The same source cited also says that, “the only job of the EC, the ECB and the IMF representatives is to evaluate the proposals brought by the Greek side.” Also, EC Deputy Chief Spokesperson Mina Andreeva on Friday clarified that no member of the Brussels Group ever asked from the Greek government to raise VAT to 23 percent or any other rate, stressing that, “these are Greek ideas and they should remain so.”
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